It does not take a lifetime of experience with gardening to become a master gardener, just the willingness to learn, which is what Ann Stivers had when she started the Colorado State University Extension Service Master Gardeners Program last year.

Stivers, who moved to Morgan County in 2005 with her husband, Bob, was not familiar with how to be successful with a garden, she said. She had never been involved with gardening before she moved to their place south of Weldona.

Moving to Colorado, she had the usual visions of mountains lush with growth, but found it difficult to get anything to grow — even trees.

She fell in love with the plains' unobstructed views that allowed her to watch sunrises and sunsets, and discovered the variety of wildlife, but still could not get anything to grow, Stivers said.

When she met a master gardener from Montana during one of her travels, she realized she needed to embrace the land she had, and jumped at the chance to learn through the Morgan County Extension Office, she said.

A visit from an extension agent after her lawn died also gave her some incentive to learn, Stivers said.

Master gardener classes begin with the basics, such as learning about soil types and how to use them, learning about insects and weeds, recognizing plant diseases and learning about the precious nature of water in Colorado, Stivers explained.

In Nebraska, where she had lived for 20-plus years, she paid a small amount per quarter of year for water. She was shocked to see summer water bills of $150.

Through the master gardener program, Stivers learned how to conserve water while still having a nice landscape at her home, and she says she now enjoys working in the garden.

In fact, with her new knowledge she enjoys digging down into the world of the earth, with its small lifeforms that sustain the soil, Stivers said. Her new experiences whet her appetite to learn even more.

Part of the program is agreeing to put in 50 volunteer hours to help other gardeners. Much of that time was spent in the Walmart garden center helping customers with questions, she said.

She also helped some senior citizens at Eben Ezer Lutheran Care Center in Brush to do some planting.

"They taught me as much as a session of class," Stivers noted.

During her volunteer work, she has heard some quite insightful questions she did not always have the answers to, she said.

In the classroom, she learned to ask a lot of questions of those seeking advice in order to search out answers.

"I was really thankful for that," Stivers said, because she knows where to do to find the answers.

That allowed her to talk with questioners about avenues of research that could help them, she said.

Sometimes, she has gone on calls for the extension office, and has run into a variety of problems gardeners face.

"Every problem is unique and different," Stivers said.

Watching extension experts has helped. When they go out on calls, they ask a lot of questions and take samples. If they do not have the answers, they do research and call in other experts, she said.

Although taking the gardening classes is not "easy,"it is "very rewarding," Stivers noted.

As with any other field, it takes study and dedication to "make your corner of the world a better place," she said.

After becoming master gardeners, people often go on to study more specific plants or even consider working toward a degree, Stivers said.

The Morgan County Master Gardeners Program was strong about 20 years ago, but kind of died out. It has seen a revival the past few years.

Master gardeners are not done after the basic classes, said Stacey Poland, one of the most experienced of the current group of master gardeners.

She owns and operates Just What Grows Garden, a place in Morgan County where people can go to pick their own cut flowers.

Master gardeners must take 12 hours of continuing education each year, and offer 25 volunteer hours a year, Poland said.

Poland grew up gardening with her family up in Ohio, where plants had plenty of water and grew lushly, which took some adaptation when she moved to the state to attend Colorado State University, where she studied range ecology.

Even with all her experience and studies, it helped to have more knowledge, Poland said.

She recommends people give the program a try, since they don't have to have gardening experience to enjoy it.

"It's just a lot of fun," Poland said.

For those who don't want to take the time for the whole program, there is the new extension service Skills-Based Digital Badges program. This progam has the same information as the master gardeners program, but it does not require the volunteer hours, Poland said. Of course, that makes it more expensive, but people can take the classes online through CSU.

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